Uses of EEG Waves to Control MIDI Essay

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This paper investigates the current trends in turning the brain waves into music, through surveying the literature on the methods of turning Electroencephalography (EEG) waves into Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) music. The effect of music on the human body is well known and documented, where different types of music can have a beneficial effect on people’s mood and psychological state. The trend of somewhat a reversed operation acquired an interest recently, where it was used in therapeutic purposes, and called neurofeedback. The proposed research aims at providing a simple and portable system that will be able to generate MIDI output based on the inputted data collected through an EEG collecting device.

The research question can be beneficial in many ways, where the therapeutic effects of listening to the music created by the brain waves document many cases of treating health problems. Although the methodology of the conversion of brain waves is still in need of clarification and further, listening to the music created by your won brain was seen to treat insomnia, and stress, as well as helping in increasing concentration focus and energy. (Bob Groves, 2005a, Bob Groves, 2005b, Grant, 2008, Megan and Writer, 2007) Studies also proved the potential of music as a part of neurofeedback in improving attention abilities in clinical groups and healthy people. (Gruzelier and Egner, 2005)Additionally, on the creative part, creating your own music will help people with disabilities in creating an intermediary interface through which they not only will be able to create their own music, but also use the musical output as a controlling device. (Steenson, 1998)

The approach taken can be seen through the transformation of the EEG data, which will be collected by an EEG collecting device into raw data. The approach is influenced by the interface described in the article “Brain-Computer music interface for composition and performance” by Eduardo Reck Miranda, where different frequency bands will be trigger corresponding piano notes through, and the complexity of the signal will represent the tempo of the sound. (Hofstadter, 2009) The correspondence of the sound and the notes will be established through experimental work, where data of participants of a test group will be gathered and analyzed, putting intervals for brain frequencies for different notes.

Among the specific devices that can be used for this research is “Pendant EEG”, which can be considered as the most portable and inexpensive EEG unit on the market today. The device can record and analyze the waves along with the possibility of transferring the data to the computer and subsequently to EEG analysis software. Accordingly, the choice of the MIDI output can be justified by the simplicity of the sounds, where the General MIDI standard 2 is universal across vendors and manufacturers, supports several channels, and is able to record the characteristics of the sounds such as tempo, decay time and vibrato. (Pisano, 2006)

The research will be divided into several stages, including the preliminary notes assignment, the development of conversion software, and the analysis of the study group, where the results of the composed music will be measured based on several criteria, such as the medical effects, the music perception, and the satisfaction level.

The study can contribute to the field of neurofeedback, by providing criteria tools for assessment. Additionally, the methods of notes assignment through average intervals of waves of bandwidth will be tested to establish the similarity between the waves and notes in different groups.

References

BOB GROVES, S. W. (2005a) Brain music therapy tunes into trouble ; Waves used to help with ups, downs. The Record. Bergen County, N.J.

BOB GROVES, T. H. R. (2005b) MUSIC FOR YOUR MIND THERAPY TURNS BRAIN WAVES INTO MUSIC TO SOOTHE OR STIMULATE. Pittsburgh Post – Gazette. SOONER ed. Pittsburgh, Pa.

GRANT, A. (2008) MENTAL HEALTH / Brain may benefit from its own music / Tunes composed from patient brain waves may relieve anxiety, insomnia. Houston Chronicle. Houston, Tex.

GRUZELIER, J. & EGNER, T. (2005) Critical validation studies of neurofeedback. Child and Adolescents Psychiatric Clinincs of North America, 14 83-104.

HOFSTADTER, K. (2009) Investigate the use of EEG data for the purposes of sonification and visualisation in a creative environment. Creative Music Technology. Cambridge, Anglia Ruskin University.

MEGAN, K. & WRITER, C. S. (2007) SOOTHED BY YOUR BRAIN WAVES ; THERAPEUTIC WHEN CONVERTED TO MUSIC. Hartford Courant. STATEWIDE ed. Hartford, Conn.

PISANO, J. (2006) MIDI standards, a brief history and explanation. MustTech.net. Web.

STEENSON, M. W. (1998) . Wired.

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